Speaking at the Forum of Mayors “Urban Regeneration Towards 2030”, organised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in Geneva on 3 October 2023, Congress Secretary General Mathieu Mori underlined the Congress commitment to strengthening co-operation with UN actors on urban resilience and urban renewal, in particular with UN-Habitat, as well as on the implementation of Agenda 2030 at local and regional level.
“As stressed by European leaders at the Reykjavik Summit in May, local and regional authorities have a major role to play in upholding human rights, rule of law and democracy. The Congress will do its part, and we support your initiatives to include local and regional authorities in human rights action within the UN system as well,” stressed Secretary General Mori. Pointing to the complementarity between the New Urban Agenda, adopted by UN-Habitat in 2016, and the revised European Urban Charter, to be adopted by the Congress at its session in October, he reaffirmed that the Congress would pursue building synergies with UN-Habitat in applying the principles of modern urban governance, including ensuring the right to a healthy environment, and localising SDGs.
The Secretary General welcomed the Political Declaration adopted by the UN SDGs Summit in September 2023, as “it commits to further localising SDGs and stresses the role of local and regional authorities in their implementation”, thus echoing the Congress recommendation on the subject adopted at its session in March 2023.
He emphasised that local and regional authorities should include a human-rights perspective in their activities and in the services they provide, and that this perspective must involve environmental protection. “Urban renewal and resilience of local and regional authorities is about creating a livable future for the young generations, and we must build stronger multilateral co-operation to this end, in Europe and beyond”, stated Secretary General Mori.
